The new design of Britain’s most common, and most forged, banknote has been unveiled by the Bank of England.
Security features on the next £20 note, featuring artist JMW Turner, will include similar features to the 5 and 10 pound note; two see through windows on the note and a metallic hologram. In the first half this year, 88% of detected fake notes were £20 notes, statistics show.
The new design, which the Bank describes as its most secure, enters circulation on 20 February next year.
The current £20 note is the most common note circulating at the moment, with over 2 billion notes in circulation. That’s double the number of £10 notes in circulation, and far greater than the number of £5 notes (396 million) and £50 notes (344 million).
:// BBC and Bank Of England.
The popularity of the note is part of the reason for it also being the most likely to be forged.
The Bank discovered 228,000 counterfeit banknotes in the first half of the year, of which 201,000 were £20 notes.
It’s almost certainly the most commonly forged Bank of England banknote in each of the past 10 years.
